


Invisible Yet Unforgettable

by buttchester



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Scenting, alpha!Kris, omega!Yixing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-05 04:32:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12182949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buttchester/pseuds/buttchester
Summary: Yixing has always had trouble catching the pheromones of potent alphas like a normal omega, until he meets the most unassuming alpha ever that makes him weak in the knees.





	Invisible Yet Unforgettable

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the prompter of #125, I hope you enjoyed what I could come up with and I'm so sorry for the rushed ending. This is unbeta'd.

“But Xing-ge! He smells so goooood!” Zitao sobbed as he laid on the table in the food hall, clutching his chopsticks like they were his only tether to the real world. Yixing sighed and patted the younger boy on the shoulder.

“Yes, yes, Taotao, Junmyeon smells fantastic, you’ve told me a thousand times. Go talk to him if you’re so affected!” Yixing said with a slight grimace as he watched his fellow omega turn into a puddle at the scent of one of campus’ most eligible alphas, Kim Junmyeon. The alpha in question was on the other end of the hall, unaware that almost every omega was eyeing him with wide eyes and red cheeks.

A tray clattered down on the table next to Yixing and another omega collapsed into the seat, his knees trembling. Yixing looked at both his friends and sighed, feeling weary that they were so affected by alpha potency and he was left feeling blank.

“Hi, Jonginnie,” Yixing greeted in Korean to the newcomer, reaching over to place his hand on Jongin’s shoulder.

“Hello, Hyung.” The other omega lifted his head to look at the two Chinese men, his cheeks red. Yixing clicked his tongue and smoothed the young man’s curly hair away from his face, letting him see just how heavy Jongin’s blush was.

“Eat, Jongin, don’t focus on the smell.”

Jongin whined at Yixing’s comment and Yixing cut him off with what he knew Jongin would say, “’But Hyung, I can’t not focus on it!’ I know! But for your sake and mine, please just eat. Both of you.”

Yixing breathed deeply before he returned to his tray of food, and picked up some bean sprouts with his chopsticks. It was a sore spot that he never reacted to alpha scents, and day after day with his friends ending up quivering in joy at the scents that Yixing thought smelt like faint, old scents, left him rather beaten.

He shared a music theory class with Kim Junmyeon a bit after lunch – the last one before the day was done, and even in that class he watched the other omegas work through flushed cheeks. The professor, a mated omega, even had a slight tinge to his cheeks, which proved to Yixing that something was very wrong, though nothing ever turned up when he asked to be tested.

At the end of the class, he nodded his thanks to the professor and left the room, planning on heading to the bus stop.

“Hey, Yixing!”

Turning his head, he stopped in amazement as ‘ _The_ Kim Junmyeon’ – Zitao’s voice stressed in his head – flagged him down. They had maybe spoken once due to a random run-in in the library and that was just a pitiful ‘excuse me’ from both parties.

“Hi! Sorry, I don’t mean to frighten you, but I have a favour to ask,” Junmyeon said after he got closer. Yixing just stared blankly at the man, and Junmyeon shifted awkwardly. “Um…”

“Oh,” Yixing gasped, “uh, what kind of favour?”

“I have to miss two classes next week and a friend of mine said you wrote the clearest notes he’s seen. I was wondering if I could get them off you once I’m back?” Junmyeon looked awkward as he was asking and it made Yixing feel even more awkward.

Yixing took a deep breath, smelling only the light tones of paper and fresh linen coming from the alpha and felt his heart shrivel even more. There was still no reaction in him and he could see another omega in the corner of his eye looking at them in envy. “Yeah, okay. I’ll make photocopies for you.” He hitches his backpack up higher and grips his straps as a lifeline. Please, let this awkward experience end.

“And – _amitabul_ – um, the really tall omega boy? That you’re friends with? What- what’s his name?”

Yixing let out a laugh in disbelief at hearing the Buddhist prayer slip out of Junmyeon’s mouth. “Which one? All of my omega friends are tall.” Yixing wasn’t lying – Zitao, Jongin and Chanyeol were all six feet tall and over – he was the only one who stood a decent five ten.

Junmyeon shifted uncomfortably, and Yixing felt like he had so much control over campus’ Alpha of Alphas.

“The… the dangerous looking one?” Junmyeon’s voice cracked at the end in an octave higher than the rest of the sentence.

Yixing let out a peel of laughter. Oh, this was too good. His words at lunch were coming back at him in a reversed form.

“Taotao? Huang Zitao?” Yixing laughed. “He’s not very dangerous. He thinks there’s a ghost haunting his dorm’s shower.”

Junmyeon turned beet red at Yixing’s comment, and he coughed to calm himself. “Ah, okay. Um, thank you, Yixing. I’ll come see you next week once I’m back.”

Junmyeon left faster than he had arrived and it left Yixing feeling weird. He shook it off, and continued to the bus stop so he could go to work. There was no point in dwelling on something that he knew would never be fixed – but at least Zitao would possibly get something out of that exchange.

Yixing went through the motions once he got to work. He worked at a small clothing store at the end of a busy strip. It wasn’t until three hours into his shift that the rush mellowed out, letting him the luxury of sitting on the stool behind the register. His co-worker Baekhyun, a lively beta, had stepped out five minutes earlier to grab them food from a cart just down the street.

Yixing rolled his neck, rubbing the sore muscles around his hips, cursing softly in relieved Chinese as he feels something pop in place – it was the best feeling in his opinion. As he stretched his worn body out, the door opened. He looked up to greet the customer, but when he goes to say the first syllable, the sound catches in his throat and he chokes.

Every muscle in his body started to quake and he felt his face heat up. His spine turned to jelly and he felt his upper body slump onto the counter. Yixing let out a whimper and _holy shit, what was that scent?_

The scent wrapped around Yixing like the warmest hug, pulling him into its arms and making Yixing feel like he could never feel safe and comfortable ever again if it left him. Usually he could pinpoint each little nuance in someone’s scent because pheromones never got in the way of the underlying tones – like how Zitao and Jongin both smelt of puppies but Zitao had grip tape and Jongin had satin as their complementary scents, and his roommate Chanyeol of new guitar strings and new shoes.

But this scent.

This scent smelt like _home_.

That’s the only way Yixing’s mind could explain it. Nothing else would come to his mind because it was just so powerful that all of Yixing’s cognitive abilities had been rendered useless. He laid slumped on the counter for as long as it took for Baekhyun to return with two bags of takeout. It could not have been longer than five minutes that Yixing was lain useless, but the scent never left.

“You okay there, bud?” the guy asked, pressing a hand to Yixing’s forehead, frowning at the heat and the pitiful whine he got. He smoothed back Yixing’s hair, worried. “Xingxing? Hey, buddy, can you say something there?”

Yixing just let out a sob because the scent got closer and more concentrated.

“Um… is he okay?” a deep gravelly voice asked as something was set on the counter.

“I… don’t know,” Baekhyun answered truthfully, “Uh, is this everything, man?”

“He should probably go home if he’s looking that rough,” the voice commented, Baekhyun not bothering to answer.

“35 thou, bro,” Baekhyun worked around a panting Yixing, moving quickly so he could drag Yixing to the back in case the omega hurled.

“Yeah, yeah, here. Shit, he’s getting worse. Don’t bother with the receipt; I don’t need it. I’ll see you later, Baek,” the voice sounded just as worried as Baekhyun.

“See you, Hyung,” Baekhyun said back and the scent started leaving. Yixing whined in distress at it leaving, but Baekhyun thought it was because the Chinese man was going to throw up.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, please don’t puke here.” Baekhyun panicked, wrapping his arms around Yixing’s upper body and lifted the larger omega male upright. Yixing let out a low groan, his vision finally clearing and he sucked in a deep breath of slightly clear air full of Baekhyun’s cotton and sugar scent.

“Bae… Baek…” Yixing gasped between each sound. “Not… sick. Lemme… catch… breath.”

The beta didn’t let go, but just waited for Yixing’s breathing to normalise and for him to be able to string a sentence without wheezing.

“I’m good,” Yixing said, patting Baekhyun’s hands still holding him up. He was slowly released and Yixing sucked in a huge breath and managed to stay upright without swaying.

“What was that about?” Baekhyun took a seat on the other stool, looking wild.

“Sorry, I… I really don’t know? I just… smelt something really good and lost it,” Yixing answered as best he could, but even he had a hard time fully understanding what was going on.

“You’re so lucky all we had was Yi-,” Baekhyun stopped and started at Yixing with the ugliest dead fish look on his face. “Oh… holy shit.”

“What?”

“Give me a sec.” Baekhyun got off the stool and went to the register. He opened it and took out two twenty thousand won bank notes and shoved them under Yixing’s nose.

Yixing felt his body starting to quake again and his vision blur. He could tell that Baekhyun’s scent was on them, but it was overpowered with that smell of home. He let out a moan and whined when the scent was taken away.

“Oh my god, I was right.”

“Right about what?” Yixing asked as he pathetically tried to take back those two twenties to inhale the rest of the scent, but Baekhyun was faster and clearer headed than him, so the money was shoved back into the till.

“Nah, I’ll tell you after we close up. Now, eat up!” Baekhyun pushed the neglected takeout bags towards Yixing.

“Bastard,” Yixing muttered under his breath.

If Baekhyun saw Yixing take the heavenly scented bills from the register and replace them with two bills from his own wallet, he didn’t say anything. Yixing was grateful at least, partly because he was so embarrassed of how he reacted, but at the same time his inner voice was screaming at him to keep that scent with him as much as he can.

After they had cashed out and closed down the store, Yixing waited patiently for Baekhyun to set the alarm system and lock the back door behind them.

The younger man was just going to walk away when Yixing let out a distressed noise.

“Ah, right.” Baekhyun turned around and pulled a small crumpled sticky note out of his pocket. “Here, give this number a message.”

He slapped it into Yixing’s palm he had grabbed and then, with a giggle, ran off. Yixing felt affronted at Baekhyun’s lack of promise keeping as he watched the mischievous beta turn the corner with a hoot. He looked back down at his palm and sighed.

Smoothing out the piece of paper as he walked, he read the digits and pulled out his phone. Keying in the number, Yixing wondered what he should say.

He pondered this as he took the bus back to the omega dorm back on campus. It wasn’t until he was back in his room with Chanyeol who was busy grunting in annoyance at a rift that would not meld well with the rest of his composition.

“Try A flat minor instead for the second chord,” Yixing suggested as he flopped onto his bed. Chanyeol hummed and tried again, let out a happy grin that it finally worked.

“Bless you, my Chinese friend!” Chanyeol put his guitar onto the stand and ran over to squish Yixing into a hug.

Yixing let out a cry and tried to wiggle out of the giant guy’s hold. “No, let goooo,” Yixing whined, trying to get the octopus limbs off himself.

“No!’ Chanyeol said indignantly, tightening his grip on his friend. Yixing managed to roll onto his side and look at his phone once he realised Chanyeol was not going to let up. He had punched in a boring ‘hello’ into the message bar, but was still stuck on what else to say.

“Who ya texting?” Chanyeol hooked his chin on Yixing’s shoulder, staring at the blinking cursor just as intently as Yixing.

“I dunno. Baekhyun gave me this number after I had a freak out and nearly passed out at the shop today.”

“Whoooa, wait. Pass out?” Chanyeol immediately starting to check Yixing’s temperature and pupils, making the older grunt in displeasure at being manhandled for the third time that day.

“I’m fine, I just… smelt something really amazing. Here,” Yixing said and pushed Chanyeol off to grab his wallet. He pulled out the two twenties, sniffed them happily then passed them to Chanyeol. “Doesn’t it smell good?”

Chanyeol took the bills and a breath, before shrugging. “Smells like leather and you, Hyung, with a bit of Baekhyun.”

“No, it smells like – like home!” Yixing urged, taking back the cash to smell them again. “I swear, it just smells so good, like I never want it to go away or I’ll be wrecked forever.”

“Uh, that’s usually how I feel after I’m near Kim Junmyeon or that alpha I kinda like in my music composition class. They both are just so good smelling that I just never wanna _not_ smell them,” Chanyeol said, patting Yixing’s shoulder. “But that… that’s just… kinda plain. Nothing really extraordinary about it.”

Yixing felt deflated. Why was it when he finally reacted to alpha pheromones, it didn’t even bother someone he knew reacted?

“Hey, Hyung, don’t feel bad. I’m sorry, okay, but listen, you have one of the best noses I’ve ever known. You don’t get distracted by pheromones! That’s gotta be like, I dunno, the best thing ever. You can smell people for what they truly are! No bullshit!”

Yixing just looked sadly at Chanyeol and the younger man crumbled. He scooped up Yixing, and brought him down for a cuddle, feeling like the worst person ever for dashing Yixing’s hopes. He knew the Chinese omega just wanted to feel normal when it came to scents, but with the lack of pheromones he could pick up on, he never did.

“I’m sorry, Hyung. I really am,” Chanyeol whispered into Yixing’s hair and Yixing felt his heart thud wretchedly.

Chanyeol fell asleep on Yixing much later, and Yixing sighed, using his phone over Chanyeol’s shoulder. He sent the unknown number a simple, ‘Hello, Baekhyun gave me your number. I’m his co-worker Yixing.’

Yixing made it out of Chanyeol’s hold, long enough to change out of his day’s clothing, plug in his phone, and shut off the light. He cuddled back up to the taller man, happy that his roommate was such a nice person even if he sometimes said the wrong things. And with the younger being so tall, Yixing always felt so small when they cuddled and he loved it.

He drifted off to sleep wrapped in the sleeping octopus’ arms, not hearing the buzz of his phone.

~*~*~*~

Yixing woke up late thanks to Chanyeol. The tall omega in question had shut off Yixing’s alarm long before it could rouse Yixing and neither fully woke up until Chanyeol’s own alarm went off an hour and a half later. Both boys exploded in panic and Chanyeol did his best to get Yixing out the door as quick as possible.

In the end, Yixing was still an hour late to his morning dance class. He was scolded when he appeared but he apologised deeply and wholeheartedly that his teacher sent him to his spot.

It wasn’t until he was done his shower and sitting in his literature class (a requisite he could no longer put off) that he finally looked at his phone.

Oh, he got a reply!

‘Hi, Yixing. I was the guy who saw you lying on the counter yesterday. You okay? You looked rough. My name’s Yifan.’

Yixing felt his mind kick into high gear. Was Yifan the source of the god-like smell? Pulling out his wallet, he pulled out one of the bills and sniffed it, feeling sad that the smell was fainter than it was the night before.

He had to find out. He had to.

‘Hi, Yifan, I’m fine. It was just some dizziness. I felt better after resting for a bit. Thank you though.’

But how? Yixing read over what he started typing and he had no idea how to continue without sounding weird. He erased it.

“Hey, Yifan, I was just experiencing some hea-‘

Yeah, no. Not blaming it on that. Yixing did not want to share any of that to someone he doesn’t even know.

‘Hi, Yifan. Don’t worry I’m fine just some dizziness! I feel like I made a fool of myself sorry. Not how I want to meet people lol’

Better… but still weird. Yixing sent it anyway.

Before he regretted sending it, he shoved his phone back into his bag and looked to the professor for the beginning of class.

After class, Yixing made his way to the cafeteria hall and made his way over to his favourite stall. His friend, a short beta named Minseok shuffled up behind him and rested his head against Yixing’s arm.

“Hey, Xing,” he said, looking at the menu as Yixing ordered his meal.

“Hi, Ge,” Yixing greeted back, “did you get any sleep last night?”

“No,” Minseok sighed, “Luhan kept me up because he was working on a research paper and kept bugging me for words.”

“But Lu Ge’s Korean is the best out of us…” Yixing frowned and patted his friend’s shoulder, and looked to the worker and ordered his lunch. Luhan was Minseok’s mate and a rather strange guy if Yixing had to say. It might just be a Beijing thing, or it might just be a Luhan thing – Yixing really didn’t know many Beijing people to find out.

“Doesn’t stop him from over-thinking things and forgetting he has naver at his fingertips.”

Minseok ordered the same thing and they slid down the line to hand over their meal cards. They took their trays when they were given them and made it over to an empty table.

Yixing and Minseok ate in silence, only deigning to speak if something really needed to be said, until Luhan and Chanyeol arrived. With the arrival of the other two, their table got a thousand times chattier – just on Luhan’s behalf.

“How are you so peppy?” Minseok groaned when his other half arrived.

“Drank three espressos!” Luhan said cheerfully, setting down his lunch tray and passing a large takeaway cup over to his mate. “Dark roast, one sugar, no cream.”

“I love you,” Minseok moaned as he grabbed the cup and started to drink the dark elixir like a man possessed. Yixing looked warily at Luhan, seeing the faint dusting of sleep deprivation under the older man’s eyes, but other than that he was fine. As Luhan fussed over his mate, Chanyeol scooted closer to Yixing.

“Hyung, they’re so gross,” Chanyeol whined, “I want that.”

Yixing chuckled and pulled the other omega into a side hug. “Don’t we all?”

Chanyeol curled his lips in and licked them as he reached to steal some of Yixing’s rice.

“Aiyo!” Yixing cried when the younger succeeded and slid down the bench to shovel the rice into his mouth. Yixing leant over and hit Chanyeol’s hip, cursing the other fondly for being so long. Luhan chuckled at some of the things Yixing let slip, but Chanyeol was none the wiser for it was in Chinese.

“I was gonna eat that…” Yixing sighed and picked at his other side dishes, glaring half-heartedly in Chanyeol’s direction.

Chanyeol chuckled, sounding like he was hiccoughing, and returned back to Yixing’s side. “Ah, hyungs! Yixing hyung finally smelt something really good yesterday.”

Minseok turned his head so fast Yixing was worried he’d snapped his neck. “What?”

“Yeah! He has money that smells like whoever it was.”

Luhan sat frozen for a second before disappearing under the table fast. Yixing squawked in displeasure as his bag was ripped away from under his feet and Luhan returned to his seat with Yixing’s wallet out and pulling out all the money to sniff every bill. Yixing was stunned at Luhan’s abrupt behaviour (but really it was not surprising).

“The twenties!” Chanyeol said happily. Luhan separated them and sniffed hard.

“Smells mostly like Yixing… but there’s something familiar.” Luhan inhaled deeply and shut his eyes making wrinkles pop up everywhere around them. “Leather and?”

Minseok pulled a twenty from Luhan’s hand and gave it a perfunctory sniff. “Basketballs. Leather and basketballs.”

Yixing was completely baffled at how Luhan and Minseok both could identify the main scent factors in the scent when he himself could not. Usually, Yixing was the first to point out the nuances in someone’s smell. Not his friends.

“Yifan?” Luhan said slowly and Yixing perked up from his bemused emotions at the familiar name.

“That’s the guy whose number Baekhyun gave me!”

“Ah, yeah they were roommates two years ago,” Minseok piped in. “But he’s not really… well…” Yixing felt even more confused.

“What my lovely husband is trying to say is that Yifan is not very potent at all. Everyone thinks he’s a beta on contact,” Luhan pulled Minseok into his arms and gestured grandly.

“He’s… an omega?” Yixing asked, bemused.

“No, he’s an alpha,” Luhan corrected, “just a very soft one.”

“And you’re not soft?” Minseok jested, poking Luhan in the rib. “You don’t put out as much pheromones as the other alphas around here either. So watch it.”

“Okay, but bare with me,” Luhan retorted back, “listen, Xing. If you reacted to Yifan of all people, I say you should meet the guy and see what happens again.”

“That’s what I want to do! But I suck at words and I don’t want to embarrass myself again.” Yixing put his head in his hands. “I messaged him earlier and I’m afraid to look at my phone.”

“Eh, fine, fine. Give me a second. I’ll talk to him myself.” Luhan kept switching between Korean and Chinese as he grumbled. “What’s your passcode?”

“My birthday,” Yixing said, “please don’t make me seem weird.”

“Zhang Yixing? Weird? _Never_.” Luhan cackled which did not make Yixing feel good.

“Ge, I’ll do it.” Yixing leant over to grab his phone back.

“Nope! I’m talking to him. My god you weren’t kidding when you said it was awkward. What is that lol?” Luhan moved back, keeping out of Yixing’s reach. “He says it’s okay and he’s glad you’re fine.”

Luhan is messaging Yifan at a fast rate and Yixing feels his nerves threatening to constrict his heart into exploding. Every now and then Luhan would ask Yixing for his schedule only to never specify why.

After a stressful five minutes, Luhan slid Yixing’s phone across the table. “Friday, 1pm, Minseok’s favourite café. You’re welcome. Oh, and Yifan is Chinese too.”

Yixing took his phone back and opened the message app to stare at the long conversation between Luhan and Yifan. Like Luhan said, it was all in Chinese and Yixing felt his heartbeat rise in tempo.

“Thank you so much, Lu Ge!” Yixing stretched his arms across the table to grab Luhan’s hands, laughing happily. He gripped the alpha’s hands tightly, his gratitude palpable and it made Luhan twitchy.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, go away. And don’t worry, out of both of you, Yifan is gonna be more nervous than you.” Luhan sniffed and tugged his hands away. “Just don’t fuck it up.”

Minseok smacked Luhan in the chest at that. “Don’t stress him out!”

“Yixing hyung is going to be his sweet charming self. Flash him that dimple and he’ll be goo.” Chanyeol snickered, pinching Yixing’s cheek much to the other’s chagrin. He pushes the younger away and looks back at his phone screen, turning it back on to stare at the last message Yifan had sent.

‘Can’t wait to meet him!’

~*~*~*~

Yixing had been surprisingly cool the next two days as he waited to meet the alpha that caused him such a panic. The third day though?

Panic.

At five am, Yixing woke up and thought he had slept all the way to 1pm, and had rushed out of bed to quickly wash his face, and run out of the building, only to find the sun barely rising and the campus nearly deserted (there were a few students who were stumbling back after night shifts or partying or just pulling all-nighters). He had slunk back to his dorm and rolled back into bed where he slept fitfully for the next three hours.

At eight am, he woke up for sure this time and had a shower. He spent most of breakfast completely silent, much to his friend Taekwoon’s surprise. Taekwoon, a soft spoken but fierce omega, knew about the meeting, and wanted to help Yixing relieve his worries.

The two had ended up in an empty corner of the student commons, and started to talk.

“What if it was just a one-time thing? A freak accident?” Yixing stressed, “What if I meet him again and I smell nothing like I always do? As if I really am as broken as I think I am?”

Taekwoon sucked in a breath and released it slowly. He’d heard this quite a few times, especially when Yixing found someone he liked but always ended up hurt because he couldn’t read signals and pheromones like a normal person.

“Xing-ah,” he started, “I don’t think you should worry about this. You’ve never had this reaction to an alpha before… or any other gender before! Do you think Minseok would steer you wrong? Would he do something so cruel as to get your hopes up?”

“He wouldn’t, but Luhan would,” Yixing muttered.

“Would Luhan really?”

Yixing’s shoulders slumped and he sighed heavily, “No, not even Baekhyun would do that. Not with something like this…”

“Then I really don’t think you should worry. None of your friends want to see you devastated any more than they’ve already seen before,” Taekwoon said softly, “they love you and want to see you happy.”

Yixing felt himself tear up and knew that he should not get so inside his head about this. Worst case scenario, he had made another Chinese friend in Korea and that’s all he could be happy about.

“Did I tell you that I woke up at five am thinking it was one pm?” Yixing said with a crooked smile to lighten the mood, “I thought I was late for my meeting. I made it all the way to the Green before seeing that it was just dawning.”

Taekwoon’s tinkling laugh bounced throughout the room and it eased Yixing’s heart even more.

He made it to half past twelve without realising, and soon he was walking to the café to meet Yifan.

He arrived ten minutes early and ordered himself a drink and took a spot in the middle of the café facing the door. That way he could actually see Yifan enter this time.

A text had reached him that Yifan was close by and he would be wearing a grey jacket with red Jordans. A second message also said, “I’ll be the shockingly tall guy :)” and Yixing wondered just how tall Yifan was.

The door opened as Yixing was taking a drink and the wind gently blew in, sending a large waft of that beautiful scent of _homesafety_ right into Yixing’s face. Immediately Yixing felt his body losing all control.

He managed to shakily keep enough strength to set his cup back on the table, before collapsing to the side. He and the chair fell to the ground, splaying out onto the surprisingly clean floor and Yixing’s breathing quickened.

There was a clamber of noise, and there was a stronger gust of the scent signifying that Yifan had arrived. Yixing let out a pitiful whine, unable to see anything but blurry coloured shapes. People were trying to talk to him, but it wasn’t until a large grey blob with little red blobs got closer that he managed to let out another whine.

Yifan was wearing a grey jacket, right? This had to be him.

The scent just enveloped him and Yixing closed his eyes, unable to keep them open much longer.

“Yixing? Yixing?”

Ah, the voice from the store. It was Yifan, and he’s using Chinese.

Large, callused hands gently cupped his cheeks and he let out a little sob.

“Ah, shit, not again. Hey, Yixing, I’m gonna pick you up, okay? Okay?”

There’s something being said in Korean but Yixing was so out of it that he couldn’t even concentrate on what was being said. Those large hands turned into strong arms, and picked Yixing right off the floor with a little difficulty, and Yixing’s head was nestled into the lovely juncture of a neck.

Yixing found enough strength to turn and press his nose into that neck and basically koala’d himself like a vice around the long thin body he was pressed against. Yifan shuddered and struggled to stay upright at the sudden movement.

“I can’t-,”

There was a rush of air and a jolt, and Yixing vaguely realised that Yifan collapsed into the chair Yixing had fallen from and someone had put back upright. Yixing let out a couple more whimpers, and one of those lovely large hands started rubbing his back.

Yifan continued to chatter, probably with a worker, Yixing slowly felt himself coming back into himself. Breathing in the pure, untainted scent of his greatest dream was helping him not be so grossly affected by it.

It felt like an eternity when Yixing finally opened his eyes, and had enough strength to shift in Yifan’s lap. He was a bit weak, still slightly drunk off the scent, but he was stable enough with the extra support of large hands as he struggled to sit up properly.

Blinking away the bleariness, he turned to finally look at the face of the man whose scent caused him such a reaction.

Sharp angles, soft black hair and pouty lips greeted him. Strong eyebrows were gently pulled close together out of worry over narrow, brown eyes and Yixing reached out a hand to touch the face of the godly man in front of him.

His fingertips prodded not that gently at pudgy, slightly scratchy cheeks and Yixing felt giddy at feeling the slight stubble from the day’s happenings. The nose had a long, proud bridge and was rounded at the tip, making it a perfect match for the round lips right below it.

“Wow,” Yixing breathed out in Chinese, “you’re beautiful like Pan’an…”

Yifan’s eyes widened and he coughed in shock.

“Uh, um, thank you,” he replied and Yixing giggled, before feeling faint, and laying his head down to rest back in the crook of Yifan’s neck.

“You smell…,” Yixing trailed off then remembered the word he wanted, “fantastic. So good. Like… heaven.”

He snuggled closer to Yifan, ignoring the fact that the other felt a little stiff beneath him. When he felt less drunk, and more stable – nearly fifteen minutes later, Yixing apologised for what he said.

“I’m so sorry for the things I said. I- I didn’t mean to frighten you or anything. I really… don’t know why you affect me so much.” Yixing fiddled nervously with the stir stick from his coffee – he was still slightly hyped on the scent, but he was coherent enough. He was sitting in his own seat, and Yifan was across from him with a thoughtful expression on his face.

He opened his mouth and Yixing was slightly worried about what he would say.

“Hi, I’m Wu Yifan, alpha. It’s nice to meet you.” A large hand was extended out to him and Yixing blinked in surprise, before he let out a musical peal of laughter.

“Hello, Yifan. I’m Zhang Yixing, omega. It’s nice to meet you too,” he said as he accepted the offered hand and shook it.

“Do you go to school, is that why you know Luhan? What are you studying?”

“Ah, I’m a fourth-year dance major with a minor in music composition, and yeah, I met Luhan on my first year there. He’s been the worst and best friend I could have asked for coming here.” Yixing smiled shyly as he spoke, and took a sip of his cold coffee.

“Where’d you come from? I was born in Guangzhou, but my family moved to Vancouver when I was a kid so I’m Chinese-Canadian now,” Yifan supplied, fiddling with his own cup out of nervousness.

“Changsha!” Yixing piped up, feeling happy to mention his hometown. “Did you go to the university too? What did you study?”

“Ah, yeah, I did. I studied acting with a minor in music theory, actually. I graduated last year, but I am taking a finance course at another university right now between my work as a model.”

Yixing’s mouth dropped at the mention of modelling, his eyes scanned over what he could see of Yifan and decided that, yes. The alpha man was definitely model material – he was tall, handsome and could pull off clothes that not many others could.

“Wow,” he breathed, “a model.”

Yifan chuckled and showed off the most perfect teeth beneath those round lips, his eyes narrowed attractively, as he sat back and relaxed in his seat – no longer quite so nervous.

Yixing felt his heart flutter at the beauty of that simple gesture and he really could not understand how the masses could mistake the other for a beta when he could plainly see the amount of power and assuredness of himself that Yifan held. Everyone was silly and Yixing wanted to knock every single one upside the head for being blind.

Yixing and Yifan ended up talking for three hours in the café, talking about their childhoods, their friends, China, and bonded over music. Yifan was more of a rap fan, but he said some rather nice observations over the indie style that Yixing was partial too, even though he mostly composed pop. They made plans to meet the next Tuesday for lunch. That lunch extended to a movie night that Saturday, another café date the Wednesday until four months later, Yixing was curled up in bed with his nose pressed to his boyfriend’s collarbone as he wore nothing but the other’s sweater. The last two days had been spent together working through Yixing’s heat in Yifan’s apartment and they were exhausted.

Yifan pressed kisses to the top of Yixing’s head and moved, causing Yixing to let out a pitiful whine at the loss of warmth and his favourite scent. Yifan chuckled and pulled the neck of the sweater up over Yixing’s nose, exposing his lower body.

“I’ll be right back. I’m gonna get some food and water.”

Yixing sighed as he watched his alpha walk away and shuddered at how cold he felt now. He kicked the blankets out from underneath him and rolled up to wait for Yifan’s return. He wasn’t so affected by Yifan’s scent anymore, but he would always feel weak-kneed after long periods of being away from him, which the other would counteract by giving him clothing that he would wear for a few days to saturate it with his pheromones.

Yifan came back carrying two mugs of warm water and a plate of steaming veggies and pork and tomato scrambled eggs. He set the glasses on his bedside table and climbed back into bed, and passed one of the mugs to Yixing who had sat right back up.

They ate in comfortable silence, Yifan feeding them both since he only brought one spoon. Yixing cuddled up to him and smiled as he ate, enjoying this moment and feeling so cared for.

The next day, Yixing had felt well enough to go to school again, and he was bombarded by Zitao and Chanyeol the second he arrived at the lunch table. Yixing had spoken to Taekwoon the night before and had already told him how well it had gone.

“Gege, Ge, tell us! Was he an animal?” Zitao tugged at Yixing’s collar and Chanyeol was basically trying to strip him completely of his shirt to see if he was covered in marks or if they really mated.

“No, he was really thoughtful and we didn’t mate. Stop that.” Yixing swatted the younger Chinese away and pushed Chanyeol away. He fixed his shirt and flashed Minseok a smile. “Hi, Ge, how are you? Did you get any sleep last night?”

Minseok smiled crookedly. “Yes, I did, thank you, Yixing. Luhan was kind enough to go to bed when I told him to.”

“Ge~,” Zitao whined, tugging at his shirt hem. “Was Fan Ge as good as Junmyeon Ge?”

Yixing turned beet red at the mention of Junmyeon. Zitao had not been shy at all when it came to sharing just how his dates with Junmyeon had gone since a couple of weeks after Yifan and Yixing started seeing each other – and he was definitely not holding back on his recounting of his heat he spent with Junmyeon.

“I’m not telling you anything, Taotao,” Yixing rebuffed him and shoved a mouthful of rice into his mouth so he couldn’t answer more.

“I’m glad things went well with you two,” Minseok said as he watched Yixing with a fond smile. “I was hoping you’d find someone who could make you blush so easily and treat you well and Yifan is a really great guy.”

Yixing smiled, feeling sappy at Minseok’s words. He made the sign for thank you since he couldn’t talk, and Zitao scoffed.

“Thank you, my butt,” he grumbled and went back to his soup, sulking.

Chanyeol just stared hopefully at Yixing while eating his chicken, and it unnerved him enough to lean over and whisper into his ear, “He spoon-fed me after it was done.”

Chanyeol flailed in excitement and let out a high-pitched squeak unbefitting a man with his voice. “Va’s fo cyoo!”

Yixing grimaced because Chanyeol’s mouth still had half-chewed chicken in it and it sprayed out unattractively.

“I think this goes to say, that I think you should not try to talk with your mouth open, Chanyeol.”

The tallest omega choked, turning red, and faced the newcomer. “Kungfoo!”

“Chew, and swallow.” The tiny alpha said and Chanyeol coughed before doing so.

“Hi, Kyungsoo~,” he said cutely, and squished over so Kyungsoo could take the spot between him and Yixing.

Their usual lunch crowd had grown since everyone started to gain boyfriends. Jongin had come forward one day a couple of months before with a wraith-like beta named Sehun and Baekhyun himself had found a boyfriend who was just as chatty and loud as him – another beta by the name of Jongdae.

As everyone welcomed Kyungsoo to the table, Yixing could feel the hearts coming off of Chanyeol. The omega was in full force when it came to the alpha from his music composition class between them. He fussed and got close and Yixing thought it was adorable. He knew Kyungsoo was shy when it came to public affection, but from stories Chanyeol told, Kyungsoo was just as fussy when they were alone.

Yixing and Yifan were calm compared to them. They liked holding hands and cuddling in public, but not to the degree that Chanyeol liked it. Kyungsoo just accepted the fawning as he ate with a completely unperturbed expression on his face. Weeks before, Chanyeol would have been sitting on the other side of the table chastised all the way to the moon and back.

“Oh, hey~, where’s the squared in your equation, Xing? Out stretching those legs like the modelling monstrosity he is or is he stuck in bed?” Luhan smacked Yixing on the back as he arrived, causing him to choke on his spoon. Yixing coughed, and a small hand reached up to pat his right shoulder, and Yixing nodded at Kyungsoo in thanks and to say he was okay. Luhan gave a frowning Minseok a kiss on the cheek and sat down.

“That wasn’t very kind, Luhan. Apologise to Yixing, you nearly choked him,” Minseok chastised his mate, tugging at his ear.

“Ow~, okay fine. Sorry, Yixing. I didn’t mean to nearly kill you,” Luhan said with a pout and started eating.

“Oh, is Yifan supposed to visit you today, Yixing hyung?” Kyungsoo asked as he piled some bean sprouts on top of his spoonful of rice.

“Yes, he said I forgot something at his hou-,” Yixing stopped before he could finish and immediately turned to look at the cafeteria entrance.

“Oh, he is coming!” Zitao hooted.

Sure enough, Yifan was making his way through the open doors, and carrying a bag not unlike those seen at stores with the rope handles. Yixing felt his cheeks turn pink and he raised his hand to wave him over.

Yifan jogged the rest of the way, and took the spot between Zitao and Yixing, giving the latter a kiss on the cheek.

“Hello, babe. I brought that thing for you,” he said, smiling softly and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He passed over the bag and Yixing looked into it and smiled – it was the sweater he had been wearing the day before, smelling intoxicatingly like Yifan and Yixing mixed together.

“Thank you, my love,” Yixing looked back up and reached up a hand to cup Yifan’s smooth cheek and give him a kiss.

“God, they’re disgustingly cute,” Luhan retched, sticking his tongue out in disgust before getting a smack to the stomach.

“You’re just as disgustingly schmoopy when you wanna be, so can it,” Minseok scolded him, “Now hold me, I’m cold.”

“Anything for you, darling~,” Luhan crooned and pulled his mate into a suffocating hug.

Yixing let out a tinkle of laughter and rested his head on Yifan’s shoulder, enjoying the closeness.

He was extremely content with how things had developed over the four months and little did he know that six months later, Yifan would ask him to be his mate after their second heat spent together. Yixing would cry, and accept and the week later, they would be registered as a mated couple just weeks before Yixing’s graduation.


End file.
